CASTLETON, VT. – The Keene State women's basketball team opened the new year with a win on the road on Wednesday night against Little East Conference opponent, Vermont State Castleton. Led by 30 points from Brynn Rautiola, the most for any member of the Keene State women's basketball team in a single game since Sandi Purcell against Rhode Island College on 2/18/17, the Owls defeated the Spartans, 58-46.

Records

• Keene State: 5-5 (1-1 LEC)
• Vermont State Castleton: 7-5 (1-2 LEC)

How it Happened

The Owls had a slow start to the contest, as they were outscored 13-2 over the first 4:36 of play. Following an Owls' timeout after Schuylar Nolan's layup for the Spartans, KSC bounced back, outscoring the Spartans 12-0 through the rest of the quarter. After missing her first two three-point attempts earlier in the quarter, Rautiola drained her next three attempts in the quarter, making up nine of the 12 points to close out the quarter. Samantha Lee added a free throw and Valerie Luizzi contributed with a layup to go with her first basket earlier in the quarter, to round out the scoring in the first 10 minutes of play, giving the Owls a 14-13 lead heading into the second.
 
Throughout the second quarter, the score became tied on two separate occasions and the Spartans eventually pulled ahead with the lead heading into halftime. To open the scoring in the second quarter, Maggie McKearin hit a free throw a minute in, to knot the game up at 14 a piece, but Rautiola drilled another three, directly followed by Liz Bailey's jumper for Castleton. Rautiola would have had her fifth consecutive three-pointer in a row, but her toe was on the arc for her next basket on the ensuing possession, putting the Owls back up three with 7:58 left to play in the quarter. After Lee hit two more free throws, Castleton's Stasia Epler hit a three-pointer and shortly after made a layup to tie the game back up at 21 apiece. Elise Magro scored the final points in the first half as she made a layup with 1:45 left, putting the Spartans up by two heading into halftime.
 
Just 10 second out of the gates in the third, Jackie Alibrandi netted her first points of the game, making the score 25-25, and picked up a steal from Magro on the ensuing possession, setting up Rautiola for another three-pointer, just 30 seconds into the half. Neither team scored over the next four minutes, where Luizzi made a layup, followed by a jump shot from Lee, giving the Owls a 9-0 run to start the third quarter. The Spartans recorded their only six points of the third quarter over the next minute and a half, coming from a pair of layups from Epler and one from Bailey, with Luizzi adding a layup for the Owls in between Bailey's and Epler's makes. After Epler made what would be the Spartan's last basket of the third quarter with 3:24 to play, the Owls went on another run, this time outscoring Castleton 12-0 to end the quarter. Lee picked up four of the points coming from two layups, while Rautiola accounted for the remaining eight, coming from a pair of threes and going two for two on a pair of free throw attempts in the closing seconds of the third, giving the Owls a 44-29 lead heading into the final 10 minutes of play.
 
Luizzi opened the scoring in the fourth quarter, as she hit a three-pointer after the Spartans' turned the opening possession of the quarter, giving KSC what would be their biggest lead of the day of 18 points. Castleton tried to mount a comeback outscoring the Owls 9-1 over the fourth quarter, up until with 3:05 left, where Angel Pillsbury knocked down a pair of free throws to put a pin in the Spartans' momentum. Rautiola hit a free throw shortly after, followed by a pair of makes from Luizzi, which increased the lead back to 15 with 1:10 left to play. In the final minute of play, the Spartans logged eight points, but it would not be enough, as the Owls finished by going five for six on their free throws down the stretch, not letting Castleton get too close, with Lee going one for two and Rautiola going four for four, giving the Owls a 58-46 win over the Spartans.
 
Inside the Paint

• Rautiola's 30-point effort is the first by an Owl since February 18, 2017, when Sandi Purcell tallied exactly that number in an 82-60 win over Rhode Island College on Senior Day.
• Rautiola has four games of at least 23 points thus far in her young career (10 games).  KSC is 3-1 when she scores over 20 points.
• KSC has won five of the last seven head-to-head meetings including three of the past four in Vermont.
• The Owls' 38 percent (8-21) effort from long range marked their second-best percentage from three this season.  They have canned 47 treys in their five wins and 24 in their five losses.

Up Next

Keene State plays next against UMass-Boston on Saturday, January 6, at 1:00 PM, for the Owl's first home game of 2024.
Vermont State Castleton's next game comes against UMass-Dartmouth on Saturday, January 6, at 1:00 PM, where they will travel to take on the Corsairs.